July 21/00 10:18 am - A Flood at Camp Fortune..., Track Nationals

Posted by Editor on 07/21/00

Mountain Bike Nationals

We just received word from the Mountain Bike Nationals site in Camp Fortune, Quebec that it is about to be washed away in a deluge of rain. Our waterlogged reporter Mike Badyk says that it is raining so hard that you can not even see the top of the hill from the base lodge!

The Dual has definitely been cancelled. Originally it was lack of entrants, but now Mike says that they would not have been able to hold it anyway, because of the amount of the amount of water on the course. He also says that the Team Relay is becoming iffy. We will be enroute to the event in a while, and will begin reporting live from the race this evening - assuming that the Team Relay does take place...

Track Nationals Story and Results

We have peiced together the most complete and accurate set of results for the Track Nationals that we could. The results appear below the following story

Riders and organizers found that their main competitor at the Canadian National Track Championships was the weather. Storm clouds swept through the Bromont region, the site of the Bationals, with monotonous regularity during the weekend (July 7-9), eventually forcing the cancellation of some events as organizers scrambled to fit in as much racing as they could.

Bromont is probably better known as a mountain bike centre than it is for track racing, having hosted an off road world championships (1992) and numerous World Cups. However, this small town approximately 1 hour south-east of Montreal boasts a 200 metre wooden track and one of the most active track schedules in Canada. Bromont should become even more active in the track world next season, when the former Atlanta Olympic track is installed as part of the National Training Centre facilities.

With 2000 being an Olympic year, the focus in Bromont was on events where Canada would select its athletes for Sydney. Unfortunately, that list was small: women's sprint and 500 metre time trial. The sprint position was already taken by Tanya Dubnicoff (Manitoba), who had prequalified after her third place finish at the world championships last year, so what remained to be decided was the 500 metre TT.

Lori-Ann Muenzer (Ontario), Canada's fastest 500 rider at the World Cups this year with two top-5 results, pulled off her biggest win ever against Dubnicoff to take the national title and assure herself a spot on the Sydney squad. Muenzer's only competition for the second Olympic spot was Winter Olympic medallist speedskater-turned-cyclist Susan Auch (Manitoba), who surprised the Canadian cycling community when she announced at the beginning of the year that she would be trying for the 500 metre spot. Auch needed to both win the national title and meet the qualifying time criteria, and in the final crunch fell short, finishing fourth behind Dubnicoff and Mandy Poitras (B.C.). Dubnicoff had her revenge on Muenzer by beating her in two straight rides for the sprint title, her 8th title in 9 years. Dubnicoff's win was not easy, though; with Muenzer really pushing the former world champion in the first ride.

For the men, the track nationals were about qualifying for the Pan Am Championships (in Columbia) and Track Worlds. Jim Fisher of Calgary, who has moved to the forefront of Canadian Kilo riders with strong placings on the World Cup circuit this season, took his first national title , while defending champion Doug Baron (Alberta) finished third, behind another newcomer, Kyle Hudson (Intersports). Baron and Fisher then teamed up with Lars Madsen (Alberta) to take the Olympic Sprint title, with Hudson's Intersports squad finishing second. Doug Baron took a second title after Lars Madsen crashed in the first ride of the men's sprint final and elected not to risk injury by racing any more in the prevailing wet conditions.

After the event, the Director of National Racing Programs for the Canadian Cycling Association - Pierre Hutsebaut - expressed satisfaction with the outcome, despite the rain. "Our depth in track has improved greatly, and we have a number of young riders who are starting to show (their) abilities."

Race Notes:

- at the conclusion of the Track Nationals, the National squad for the Pan Am Championships in Columbia was announced.